Negotiations are classified by level of expenditure, which determine the number of bidders that should be invited to a negotiation process.
| Amounts | United States | Number of bidders |
| Large | X> $2,000,000 | RFP (3 bidders)** |
| Substantial | $400,000<X<= $2,000,000 | RFP (3 bidders)** |
| Minor | $5,000<X<= $400,000 | 2 quotes |
| Minimum | $0<X<= $5,000 | 1 quote |
When new items are added to a negotiation after approval and exceed 25% of the original amount, a new approval is required.
** The number of bidders can vary depending on the category quadrant in the strategic matrix. For SUBSTANTIAL and LARGE amounts, the strategic and bottleneck quadrants categories have the option to invite just one bidder with prior authorization, and as long as the integrity and rigor of the negotiation process is guaranteed.
